Vegas

This September I decided I needed to use my airline credit and get myself down to Vegas! I hadn't been for a year or so and I missed my sisters (cousins). There weren't any big plans made, just me going down at the last minute to relax, and spend some quality time with my family. The down side was that half of my family was gone that particular week. We were bummed about that, but still managed to have a great time!

Mindie and I were invited by her mom and Jim to tag along to dinner at Cafe Rio and a movie. I really enjoyed spending time, laughing and crying at the movie, with them! We really had a great time despite our inability to focus at the beginning of the movie because of certain "scents"...

Dinner at the Barlow's is always a special treat because Jared really knows his stuff and therefore a mean chef! The chicken marsala was delicious!

The only part of my short trip that was actually caught on camera was when we went out on the strip. This is something that isn't done often when visiting, because for one reason or another we keep ourselves busy and do things mostly outside the strip. My uncle Jamie, and cousin's Jill, Kirk, Mindie and her family, met up at the Bellagio. There is always a themed area there that is decorated differently every month out of the year. There were talking trees with faces, and trees with bodies... I was a bit slow picking up on it all. It smelled like a spiced harvest through out the entire area and was fun for the kids. It was worth checking out...

Then, down around the corner was a chocolate "factory" that Jill took us to called Jean Philippe Patisserie. Oh my goodness! Check out the chocolate fountain! I was IMPRESSED!...and not because I'm a girl with dark chocolate running through my veins!

Uncle Jamie loves to get us special treats...so Jill and I each picked out one of their desserts to share. I obviously picked out a chocolate cake/truffle piece which was exquisite to even look at let alone taste. While Jill decided on a strawberry-kiwi concoction, that was equally, if not better than, the chocolate fantasy I picked out! Definitely visit there when touring the strip!

I decided I wanted to bring home souvenirs for the kiddos, and thought that the Coca-Cola and M&M factory were the just the place to find some. While at Coca-Cola, everyone got something to drink...root beer floats, coke...but Jill and I decided to try their 7 dollar special...multi-drinks from around the world! We were all over it! We took turns being the first to taste each one, and were pleasantly surprised by some! There were others that I'd rather not remember...including one that tasted like hair spray and another like fingernail polish remover! Those never entered my belly because they were IMMEDIATELY, but with class of course, spat back into the cup. Too much fun!

Thanks Barlow, Bryan, Batt, and Mohler families for always taking care of me and being available for me to come visit! Can't wait to do it again soon! Love you guys!